what cleaning chemicals is everyone using?

Water and soap?

I've been shooting flintlocks for 20+ years. I mean reproduction flintlocks. All I use are patches made of scrap cotton and boiling water. Same thing the British army used on their Svc muskets in 1750. The boiling water loosens the fouling and gets it out, as well as dries quick.
Put a toothpick or the like in the touchhole. Pour boiling water down the bore. Put a patch on your jag and just pump it up and down. Pull the toothpick as you push the next patch in. It should squirt water out the touchhole and maybe scald you on the leg.
Finish up by running a patch with olive oil on it down the barrel and back. Give the outer of your barrel a light coat of olive oil as well. After a few years your bright finished barrel will be brown. Ergo - King's Svc muskets were often called "brown bess"
Believe me, if you are using real black powder you only need real cleaning supplies. Leave the dish soap for dishes and killing aphids.
It worked in 1600-1900, and has worked for me and thousands of others for 20+ years.

BlackNet said:

Title pretty much says it all. I am looking for good cleaners that does a quick job of the nasty. I just finished a bottle of ole thunder and working on some black solve bottles now. I figured I may try to roll my own next and some other products and see how that goes.

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H2o, then sometimes just plain water.

If anyone wants to know the ingredients in black solve (I do have the MSDS to if anyone wants that) is water, vytron-n, amyl acetate (for smell only), isopropyl rubbing alcohol - 70 proof, green & yellow food color., amyl acetate (for smell only), isopropyl rubbing alcohol - 70 proof, green & yellow food color.

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So, basically it's just water, alcohol, and (Vytron-N) a rust inhibitor!!!!
Seems it's far cheaper to just use water to clean and oil to keep rust away...why spend all that money on commercial cleaner??
By the way...how good is Kroil in a gun barrel?

Ryden said:

Interesting fact.

The C-5 alcohols talked about in the Ballistol recipe is commonly called fusel, a byproduct of ethanol fermentation.

So, was Klever a moonshiner or what?

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Theoretically, whiskey heads are the best for cleaning theoretical guns. It only theoretically takes about four theoretical patches of shine heads to clean the bore of my theoretical 12 gauge whereas the store bought stuff takes over twice the amount patches.

I wish somebody could give me the breakdown of panther piss. I hear that's
Pretty good too.

I just use hot water.

Dawn dish soap and hot water. It's free in the kitchen. I follow that with a good drying and WD40 in all the cracks to displace any remaining water. Has worked for me for 40 years.

I used to run my stainless ROA in the dishwasher. It got ripped off and I now have a blued ROA that I don't put in the dish washer. It shoots just as well as did the stainless, but have to put some effort into cleaning it.

Folks, be careful what you use on a blued firearm. Some chemicals can take the bluing off. I've heard some sob stories over the years.

MCgunner said:

Folks, be careful what you use on a blued firearm. Some chemicals can take the bluing off. I've heard some sob stories over the years.

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Amen to that! I used some housecat piss since I couldn't get a panther to use the little jar. (the housecat wasn't that much easier but I'm healing nicely, should be off the antibiotics in a week or so) I'm here to tell you that housecat piss takes the blue RIGHT OFF! along with about half the case hardening color! Not happy about that, maybe I need to change kitties diet? Less tuna I'm thinking...

^^^ ^^^

kwhi43
Panther piss? I heard an old timer tell a story about prohibition era home brewed booze. Bought a bottle on the Q T. Took a sip- it was awful. Decided to have it analyzed. Lab report came back "We`re sorry to report your panther has a very advanced case of diabetes!"

over simplification

Water is a solvent, hot water has less surface tension and is a better solvent, water with a surfactant has less surface tension so in effect surfactants make water wetter and a better solvent. Water is a solvent, water plus alcohol lessens the surface tension making water wetter and a better solvent.
Rifle, and shotgun shooting uses very little lubrication during the ignition and therefore is relatively easy to remove. Cap and ball revolver shooting requires more and stiffer lube let alone the crisco crowd that seal their chambers with veg. grease I suggest that that would be a mess that would require a lot more than cold water to clean.

...the powder composition in 1600's and in 2013 is not the same formula nor the same ingredients.

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The formulas differed but slightly according to the times and countries but the ingredients certainly were the same... (KnO3...S...C) the only thing I have ever read (and experimented with) that truly made any difference was the type of wood the charcoal was made from. That applies even today!!! Homemade BP can be made quite a bit more powerful than what you can buy commercially just by using better charcoal and a good ball mill !!!!
What do you base your opinion on according to your above quote??

I'll use the Birchwood Casey BP solvent, or Hoppe's No. 9. Every time I try to use HOT soapy water, I always get flash rust.

My usual routine is:
Wipe down exterior with solvent,
Break the pistol all the way down, and scrub everything down with solvent and a plastic brush
Take out the nipples, soak in solvent, and run a tip cleaner through it. (GMAW contact tip cleaner)
Dry everything off, then wipe down with oil, and throw everything back together.

was pyrodex, 777, etc used in the 1600's? Did they use sugar, potassium perchlorate, 'trade secret ingredients' and the like? Even graphite is a more recent additive.

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No...Pyrodex and the other substitutes were not used...but that was not what you were commenting on...until the last two sentences. You began the paragraph referring to black powder...and what I said about it is valid..and your comment was incorrect.
Graphite coatings came later and is used to help make it flow more smoothly and as a slight burn rate retardent...but it isn't really necessary.
Concerning potassium perchlorate-based (KCLO4) substitutes...soap & water is just fine to clean with.

I've been doing it with hot water and soap, 777, Pyrodex, OR DuPont BP for 40 years and it ain't broke, so I ain't fixed it. JMHO through experience.

Now, some of these new chemicals might be easier to use, not require so much drying and WD 40 to displace water that gets into the action. I'd like to hear about THAT! Everyone prefers an easier method if it works...well, not everyone, but I know I'm open minded on that.

Well...I usually use Hoppes to clean and straight 5w-20 mobil 1 full synthetic as protectant and lubricant afterwards.

However...after reading this thread...I not sure whether to use alcohol, ballistol, soap, detergent, the dishwasher, the stove, or grab the glass cleaner (windex) from under the sink.

Torian, I can stand back and see what you mean. I'd be confused too.
Bottom line is that it isn't rocket science. If cold water can do it anything that improves on water can't be bad. Back in the "good old days" they used what they had cold creek water or piss. Today we have a variety of chemicals that will help us clean our guns better and faster. Your choice find a stream or piss on your revlover, steal some Dawn dish soap from your wife. The base line result is it must be cleaned soon after shooting and treated well aferward to prevent rustl

The original Colt factory cleaning instructions simply said to use water to clean and rinse with then oil the gun well...so simple...no?

I would also like to note for those who have said 'it worked in the 1600's' and etc that the powder composition in 1600's and in 2013 is not the same formula nor the same ingredients.

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Au Contraire

The ingredients are pretty much exactly the same. What has changed over time is the ratios of the ingredients.

I am quoting now from an old explosives textbook written by Tenney L. Davis, PhD in 1943. He says that once guns were first invented, probably around 1320 or so, experiments began to be carried out to determine 'the precise mixture that would produce the best effect.'

He calculated the percentages of the ingredients of some of the formulas used at various times and published this chart.

Saltpeter----Charcoal----Sulfur
66.66-------22.22-------11.11----- 8th Century, Marcus Graecus
69.22-------23.07-------7.69------8th Century, Marcus Graecus
37.50-------31.25-------31.25-----c. 1252, Roger Bacon
66.6--------22.2--------11.1------1350, Arderne (labratory recipe)
50.0--------33.3--------16.6------1560, Whitehorne
75.0--------15.62-------9.38------1560, Bruxelles studies
75.0--------12.5--------12.5------1635,British Government contract
75.0--------15.0--------10.0------1781, Bishop Watson

He goes on to note how the last three formulas 'correspond very closely to the to the composition of all potassium nitrate black powder for military and sporting purposes which is used today.' (1943)

Indeed, the US Army settled on the same 75-15-10 ratio that is used today back in the 1800s.

One of the most important developments for producing Black Powder of consistent quality was the corning process, which has been done since the late 14th Century.

Regarding using the tried and true method of cleaning with water, or newer concoctions, I have already stated what I use and why I use it, but most respondents on this thread preferred to shout me down.

Warm soapy water followed by 91% Isopropal alcohol to dry bore and finish with Barricade to oil exterior and bore.

Tom